How to Pick the Perfect Pineapple

Pineapples are a vibrant taste of the tropics that are good for much more than garnishing piña coladas and mai tais and eating on their own or chopped up in fruit salad. But that’s only if you get one that is perfectly ripe—bright yellow, sweet, and so full of juice that, according to Chowhound user Veggo, “they almost explode like water balloons.” But since it’s so difficult to ship ripe pineapples, the ones we find in grocery stores are often at least somewhat hard and green. So how do you know which pineapple to pick?

The conventional classic signs of a ripe pineapple are a golden color (“You should see a healthy yellowing happening from the bottom to as much as midway up the pineapple skin,” says HillJ; the more uniformly yellow-gold, the better), a sweet aroma, a slight give to the skin, and a leaf that pulls easily from the crown. However, the Dole website says neither color nor loosely attached leaves are actually good indicators of ripeness, but you can pretty much always trust your nose.

Look for large eyes (the knots on a pineapple) as well, especially if they’re large near the crown as well as all around the body, as this indicates the fruit had a longer time to ripen on the tree—and once it’s picked, it won’t ripen any further. Instead, it will just begin to degrade, with the starches converting to sugar. If there’s already juice oozing from the bottom of the pineapple, it’s past its prime, and if it smells tangy or sharp, it’s probably begun to ferment and won’t taste good.

If you’re not ready to eat your pineapple right away, store it in the fridge, then cut it up as suits your needs. In addition to using it in classic applications like pineapple cocktails and desserts, try mixing it into slaw, grilling it, turning it into edible flowers, and making homemade Dole Whip. Or try one of these easy pineapple recipes.

Grilled again, but this time turned into a refreshing drink perfect for hot summer days. It’s worth seeking out the Rhum Clément Créole Shrubb liqueur (made with orange peel, spices, and rhum agricole, a Martinique-style rum made from sugarcane juice instead of molasses). There’s not really a good substitute for it, but grilling your pineapple would still add a nice smoky dimension to all your standard tiki drinks. Get our Grilled Pineapple Daiquiri recipe.

Soy sauce and pineapple juice lend a lot of salty-sweet flavor to slow-braised pork shoulder, which you can use in all sorts of ways. We like shredding it for sliders on sweet Hawaiian buns, with fresh pineapple slices and a bit of crisp jicama on top. Get our Pineapple Braised Pork Sandwiches recipe.

In addition to tasting delicious paired with various kinds of meat, pineapple also helps tenderize it. Pair it with pork and smoky chiles for classic tacos al pastor, an unbeatable flavor combo that we’ve adapted for the home grill. Get our Tacos al Pastor recipe.

A perfectly ripe pineapple doesn’t need a lot of dressing up. Here, it’s pureed with a little bit of sugar, lime juice, water, and rum for a thirst-quenching summer drink that you can also make non-alcoholic if you prefer. Get our Spiked Pineapple Agua Fresca recipe.

This might be the lightest, brightest summer dessert you could possibly hope for—just pureed fresh pineapple with a little fresh orange juice and zest, plus enough sugar and water to help it freeze to the right fluffy, icy consistency. Get our Pineapple Granité recipe.